Water polo, World Cup: Attentive settering, Australian have rugby in the blood

It is known that there are many affinities between rugby and water polo. Especially on a physical level, albeit in decidedly different contexts, the request to players and players is very high in both sports. Physical contact is both fundamental for both. But that rugby produced water polo players from Olympic medal, we find out only thanks to the Stingers, the women’s national team of Australia. In fact, three of them, all silver at the Paris 2024 games, are daughters of three large rugby players: they are Matilde Kearns, Gabriella Palm and Bronte Halligan. Phil Kearns was the legendary Wallabies Tallbies of the World Champions in 1991 and 1999, Mitchell Palm shirt of the Australian national team wore it only in unofficial matches but also played in Italy, Daryl Halligan, New Zealand, was one of the strongest rugby players at XIII.

the door

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The Australian Water Penuoto women’s national team boasts a respectable palmares: an Olympic gold (a Sydney 2000, when for the first time it opened to women in Calottina), the silver of Paris and two bronzes (Beijing 2008 and London 2012), but also a world gold (1986), two silver (2007 and 2013) and two bronzes (1998 and 2019). Palmares that does not disfigure at all in front of the well -known rugby Wallabies, world champions in 1991 and 1999, twice defeated in the final (2003 and 2015) and once third (2011). And it is not at all strange therefore to argue that Rugby is also making a contribution to the Australian water polo. Gabriella “Gabi” Palm is the door of the Stingers, trained in sport since the child thanks to the father Mitchell. In reality, however, Mitchell Palm the Wallabies shirt wore it in unofficial matches, called in 1991 for the preparation camps in view of the World Cup, but then not confirmed for the world championship. At the University of Queensland, Palm made up the pair of centers together with Michael Lynagh, which would then become a very first greatness of world rugby. Together they also faced the All Blacks in a test, fresh from the 1987 world title, even if Mitchell Palm took over from the bench, but marking two placed. In 1989 he always took the field for Queensland against the British & Irish Lions, playing at the opening with the legendary Tim Horan and Jason Little centers. In 1991, during the preparation for the World Cup, he was made to make his debut in the national team during a tour, but in an unofficial test against the Canadians Wolverines in Edmonton, while for the two official tests with France he was left out. Excluded from the squad, at the end of that tour he stopped in Rome and was hired by Frascati, but reported a serious knee injury. Back home he underwent a relapse and a second intervention for the total reconstruction of the knee that forced him to close his career. His daughter Gabi is a pillar of the Stingers, appreciated for her mastery of the situation even under great pressure.

the attacker

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Even if he has water polo in his blood, Bronte Halligan has undoubtedly inherited solid rugby genes. In fact, his father is Daryl Halligan, a legendary wing of Rugby at the XIII New Zealand, among the greatest players in history. He started in XV as extreme with the team of his Waikato region, and then moved to the XIII with North Sydney and Canterbury Bulldogs. He conquered 20 appearances in the national team between 1992 and 1998. He was the first to exceed 2000 points in the National Rugby League: he closed his career with 80 destinations and 855 kicks made for an average of 80%. It was he who revolutionized the football technique by introducing the use of the plastic support that today is used on every rugby field in the world: before him the player built by hand a mountain or earth mounted and then placed on the ball. Daryl, who today does the sports commentator on TV, designed the “Supertee” line, used by the strongest players of the Monio. Bronte was born in Sydney in 1996 and therefore Australian in all respects. He is an attacker of great strength, intelligence and realization capacity, a threat to the opponents and a leader for his companions. From the father and the routine of the players he inherited the ability to estrange himself from the context and maintain the necessary calm under pressure.

The captain’s daughter

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But, without wanting to diminish the others, the Stinger who boasts an unquestionably higher -ranking descendant is Matilda “Tilly” Kearns, a fierce and tireless fighter center. His father is Phil Kearns, Wallabies legend, one of the most iconic heels in the history of Australian rugby and twice winner of the World Cup. The rivalry with the New Zealand heel Sean Fitzpatrick is mythical. A gesture aimed at his rival still costs the deep hatred of the New Zealand fans today in Kearns: after scoring a destination at the All Blacks in Wellington, he filed two fingers in his mouth and boiled up something that officially was never translated but who, according to the explanation of the Australian himself, was to ask Fitzpatrick to prepare two sausages well cooked at the third barbecue of the third. time. In October 2005 Kearns accidentally hit his daughter Andie, at the time of 19 months, maneuvering his car in reverse, a Volkswagen Touareg, in the home road, fortunately without serious consequences. Kearns thus became a testimonial of a prevention and safety campaign on the use of large -size cars in places frequented by children. Tilly brings the same physicality and leadership to water polo that his father exhibited on the rugby field. After a brilliant NCAA career in the United States and the Olympic silver medal in Paris, Tilly aims to add another world title to the bulletin board of the trophies of the Kearns family.